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I Think It Takes A Long Time, As You Get Older, To Realize Just How Crazy The World Is, Just How Ridiculous It All Is.
-John Cleese
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I Think It Takes

John Cleese
...
I Think It Takes A Long Time, As You Get Older, To Realize Just How Crazy The World Is, Just How Ridiculous It All Is.

Understanding the Quote: "i think it takes a long time, as you get older, to..."

This quote by John Cleese reflects deeply on the theme of crazy. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Crazy, Thinking, Long, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how John Cleese interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About John Cleese

John Cleese is celebrated for insightful thoughts on crazy and thinking. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Crazy
Thinking
Long
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Thinking
Experts
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Order
Everything In Comedy's Got To Be Exactly Right, Which Is Why Making A Comedic Film Is Kind Of A Difficult Process, Because, For Most Of The Two Years Of Shooting It And Editing It And Reshooting And All Of That, It's Not Quite Right. And It's Only When You Just At The End, You Put The Final Polish On It, It Becomes Really Funny Again.
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When You Do Comedy In Front Of An Audience, They Are The Ones Who Tell You Whether It's Funny Or Not And Which Bits Are Funny And Which Bits Need To Be Fixed.
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Comedy
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Some Actors, I Think, Want To Feel That They Are As Creative As The Writer. And The Answer Is, Frankly, They're Not.
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Creative
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There Are 3 Basic Differences Between We British And You Americans. One, We Speak English, And You Don't. Two, When We Have A "world Championship", We Invite Teams From Other Nations. Three, When You Meet The British Head Of State, You Only Have To Get Down On One Knee.
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Holy Grail
Different
My Mum Died About Three Years Ago At The Age Of 101, And Just Towards The End, As She Began To Run Out Of Energy, She Did Actually Stop Trying To Tell Me What To Do Most Of The Time.
Running
Years
Age
If You Want To Know Who Your Friends Are, Have A Major Failure.
Jail
Who Your Friends Are
Want
You Can Lead A Horse To Water But You Can't Make Him Enter Regional Distribution Codes In Data Field 97 To Facilitate Regression Analysis On The Back End.
Horse
Data
Water
Basil Fawlty Was An Easy Character For Me. For Some Reason, Portraying A Mean, Uptight, Incompetent Bully Comes Naturally To Me.
Character
Mean
Bully
By Watching The Great, Old Comedians I Picked Up A Few Tricks About How To Do Physical Comedy. And Whenever I Could Learn Something, I Sort Of Added That To My Repertoire.
Comedian
Comedy
Tricks
I'm Very Odd 'cause I Think There's More Than Just A Materialist Planet, A Materialist, Reductionist Planet.
Thinking
Causes
Odd
When I Was In School, I Was Beaten Every 30 Minutes. It Never Did Me Any Harm Except For Some Psychological Mal-adjustments And Blurred Vision.
School
Vision
Psychological
I Think That I Feel An Indignation When I Don't Understand Something.
Thinking
Feels
Indignation
That's A Lovely Experience When You Make An Audience Laugh. Then The Nerves Go Away For A Bit. And Sometimes You Do Things Then That You've Never Done Before That Are Really Funny.
Laughing
Lovely
Going Away
I Think That The Real Religion Is About The Understanding That If We Can Only Still Our Egos For A Few Seconds, We Might Have A Chance Of Experiencing Something That Is Divine In Nature.
Real
Thinking
Understanding
You Go In And Meet The Head Of Bbc One And Get An Assurance About Not Dumbing Down. And Then, Of Course A Few Months Later, He's Been Replaced By Someone You Haven't Met.
Down And
Months
Mets
Ask Yourself, "when Does This Decision Have To Be Taken?" And Having Answered It, Defer The Decision Until Then, In Order To Give Yourself Maximum Pondering Time.
Taken
Order
Giving
Telling People How To Be Creative Is Easy - Being Creative Is Difficult.
People
Creative
Easy
All Humour Is Critical, You Know? You Make Stupid Jokes. I Mean, Stupidity Is An Infirmity, Isn't It?
Stupid
Mean
Humour
Nothing Will Stop You Being Creative More Effectively As The Fear Of Making A Mistake.
Music
Mistake
Creative
It's Too Difficult To Start Right From Scratch And Try And Be Funny Out Of The Blue.
Blue
Trying
Scratches
Tension Is Wonderful For Making People Laugh.
Writing
People
Laughing
My Hovercraft Is Full Of Eels.
Eels
Hovercrafts
When You Get To My Age, And I'm 66 Now, You Realize That The World Is A Madhouse And That Most People Are Operating In Fantasy Anyway. So Once You Realise That, It Doesn't Bother You Much.
People
Age
World
I Don't Miss London Much. I Find It Crowded, Vast And Difficult To Get Around. Cabs Are Incredibly Expensive.
Missing
London
Difficult
I Can Never Do Better Than 'fawlty Towers,' Whatever I Do. Now I Very Much Want To Teach Young Talent Some Rules Of The Game.
Games
Towers
Want
Creativity Is Not An Ability That You Either Have Or Do Not Have. It Is, For Example, And This May Surprise You, Absolutely Unrelated To Iq, Provided You're Intelligent Above A Certain Minimal Level.
Creativity
Intelligent
Example
Either People Walk Round Dressed As Chickens Or They Listen To Beethoven.
People
Chickens
Walks
Because, As We All Know, It’s Easier To Do Trivial Things That Are Urgent Than It Is To Do Important Things That Are Not Urgent, Like Thinking. And It’s Also Easier To Do Little Things We Know We Can Do Than To Start On Big Things That We’re Not So Sure About.
Thinking
Important
Littles
Creativity Is Not A Talent. It Is A Way Of Operating.
Writing
Creativity
Way
I Think That Money Spoils Most Things, Once It Becomes The Primary Motivating Force.
Thinking
Force
Spoil
I Can Do Anything I Want, I'm Eccentric!
Want
Eccentric
Rat Race
I Don't Want To Hurt People.
Hurt
People
Want
I Would Like To Do My Own Eulogy, And Then Shoot Myself And Then Get In The Coffin.
Eulogy
The Great Thing About Florida Is You - Each City's About Two Hours' Drive From Everywhere Else.
Florida
Cities
Two
Wine Is Wonderful Stuff. But So Many People Are Put Off By The Snobbery Of It.
Wine
People
Stuff
I Don't Understand Why Very, Very Rich People Want To Have Even More Money Than They've Already Got.
People
Want
Rich
I Get Bored Easily. I've Been Bored Most Of My Life.
Bored
What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us?
Holy Grail
Done
Rhetorical Question
If You Really Don't Know Where To Start Or If You're Stuck, Start Generating Random Connections And Allow Your Intuition To Tell You If One Might Lead Somewhere Interesting.
Interesting
Intuition
Connections
I Don't Want To Have To Start Being Unselfish Again. The Great Thing About Being On Your Own Is You Do What You Damned Well Like.
Want
Unselfish
Great Things
If Life Were Fair, Dan Quayle Would Be Making A Living Asking 'do You Want Fries With That?'
Life
Would Be
Asking
I'm Not Sure What's Going On In Britain. I Don't Know What's Going On In London. Because London Is No Longer An English City, And That's How They Got The Olympics. I Mean, They Said, "we're The Most Cosmopolitan City On Earth," But It Doesn't Feel English.
Mean
Cities
Earth
When You're Being Stalked By An Angry Mob With Raspberries, The First Thing To Do Is To Release A Tiger.
Advice
Firsts
Raspberries
Your Mother Was A Hamster And You Father Smelled Of Elder Berries.
Mother
Father
Berries
I Have Several Times Made A Poor Choice By Avoiding A Necessary Confrontation.
Creativity
Choices
Design
I Would Say That I Began With A Very Edgy, Very Driven Personality And After A Sufficient Amount Of Therapy Over Many, Many Years, I Managed To Become Rather Relaxed And Happy.
Years
Personality
Driven
When You've Been Doing Comedy For Forty Years, You Really Do Know Most Of The Jokes. And Even If You Don't Know A Specific Joke, You Can Pretty Much Guess What It's Going To Be.
Years
Comedy
Forty
The Americans Are Just More Enthusiastic And More Likely To Engage In Hyperbole.
Enthusiastic
Hyperbole
The Most Creative People Have This Childlike Facility To Play.
Play
People
Creative
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